What does a typical day look like for you?

I work on a mix of projects at all stages of the project lifecycle: helping out the team, checking through scripts and storyboards, and experimenting with ideas across multiple creative programmes.

For some projects, I work through the whole process of how we create animations from the initial brief to the final delivery. That consists of reading through the script, designing style frames and storyboards, creating the animation in After Effects and adding and editing the voiceover and music.

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What are the most exciting aspects of your role?

Working on a range of projects and learning every day about what makes good animation and design, as well as how to use different software. Also working alongside so many nice, talented people who I can learn from.

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How did you get into animation?

From a young age, I was interested in making videos. My dad bought me my first Sony camcorder when I was around 10 and I would document my life and make and edit videos using Windows Movie Maker. This interest carried on through to when I moved to university to study Visual Communication. I knew I loved creating video content but also loved illustration and graphic design. This course felt right because it enabled me to dabble in each of these areas and find what I most enjoyed. During my first year, we had a module where we had to create an animation. This was my first step into After Effects and animation, and after that I continued to learn the basics of animation - mainly frame by frame in Photoshop.

I decided in my final year to focus purely on experimenting with animation and video. One of my favourite projects was when I created a 3D set and used a projector to map it out and create animation projected onto it, so that the animation moved around the set in real life. For my final major project, I made a 2 minute cel animated documentary, and it was after these two projects that I knew I wanted to do this as a career.

After uni, I worked in a design studio back home in the West Country which I loved but knew I wanted to move away and work in animation. I spent some time learning the software and working on some personal projects to build up more of a portfolio. Towards the end of 2019 when I felt ready and had enough work to represent myself, I began looking for animation jobs. I knew I wanted to work in a studio rather than freelance because I felt that a studio would be a great place to start my career and build up my knowledge and confidence. I found Buff’s work on Instagram and saw they were looking for a Junior Motion Designer. This ended up being the only job I applied for as I heard back from them within a few days, doing a couple of interviews and eventually getting the job!

We polled some questions on LinkedIn and here are some specifics that people wanted to know:
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With the increasing number of tools, techniques and resources, how do you decide where to invest your energy and focus to maximise your learning?

When I started my career at Buff, I spent hours watching online courses and tutorials for AE. Most of my time was spent watching and writing notes, followed by constant practice of working in AE and getting used to the UI. The great thing about working here is that Buff offers countless resources to further our learning. If any of us discover a new course or tool that we think will help with our development, then Buff are happy to get it.

Now that I’m further into my career, I try to find particular areas that I’d like to improve on e.g. character animation. I will spend time watching tutorials and practising in AE with the different techniques there are for character animation.

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Have there been moments where you felt like your learning had plateaued? If so, how did you get back in the learning zone?

I did feel this for a couple of months when I felt like the projects I was working on weren’t as inspiring, and I was also feeling quite low and uninspired in general.

I spoke to Chloe and Tom (Buff’s co-founders) about this and they offered support and advice on how I could get back into the groove. I began working on a new project a few days later, which became one of my favourite projects I have worked on.

I think it’s important to understand that you won’t always feel really motivated and inspired to create work. Sometimes it does feel like your learning comes to a halt. It takes time to learn motion design and it’s important to go at your own pace without comparing yourself to others. Sometimes you will work on projects that you feel aren’t challenging enough, however everything is a learning opportunity.

For a long time, I was putting too much pressure on myself that I wasn’t creating work outside of Buff and felt that I had lost the excitement of making my own work. I was spending so much time learning everything about motion design and being in this industry that to also create lots of work felt overwhelming. Since then, I have learnt to slow down and focus on what I actually want to create rather than what I think people want to see. I’m much happier now and feel far more motivated since I have taken the pressure off myself. I’ve been enjoying working on personal projects and if there are days where I don’t feel like it, then that’s okay.

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What core skills do you feel like every motion designer should have to do well in the industry?

Dedication. Passion. Willingness to learn. Able to take criticism. Able to adapt to new ways of working. Confidence in yourself.